Dr. Rajendra Kumar is a senior officer in the Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S.) and currently working as the Secretary (Border Management), Ministry of Home Affairs. In his current capacity, he is leading the important and sensitive domains of border management, coastal security, freedom fighters rehabilitation and enemy properties in the country. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Director General of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, where he led ESIC in its transformational mission to provide social security through quality healthcare and other benefits to the insured persons across the country. Earlier, he worked as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India. At MeitY, he led the policy formulation and implementation of various schemes under the Digital India, egovernance, emerging technologies, personal data protection, cyber laws and cyber security domains in the country. He was also the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) and supervised the activities of a large number of organizations, including the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC), Digital India Corporation (DIC), and the National e-Governance Division (NeGD). He was also the chairman of the National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI). Earlier, he served as the Principal Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department in the Government of Tamil Nadu, where he led the implementation of various government schemes for startups and MSMEs in the state. He also worked as the Principal Secretary/Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce, where he led the initiative for creating a Single Window Portal for MSME entrepreneurs in the state for obtaining all approvals online for starting an enterprise. He has also served as the CMD of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), where he led the ICT infrastructure, e-governance, ICT procurement and IT industry promotion activities within the state. He has also worked earlier as the Joint Secretary (e-Governance) in MeitY, where he led the entire Digital India, e-governance and technology development for Indian languages initiatives at the national level and was responsible for the overall conceptualization and implementation of the flagship Digital India Programme and the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Government of India. Prior to his stint in the Government of India, he held senior positions in the district and state administration in Tamil Nadu. Contd. P/2.. :2: Dr. Kumar has received a number of academic and professional awards at national and international levels during his career. In November 2023, he received the ‘ISSA Vision Zero Award’ for ESIC for its outstanding performance in promoting occupational safety and health and prevention in India. In December 2022, he was elected as the President of the International Section of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) on Information for Prevention. Amongst other awards, he has received the UN Public Service Award in 2014 for the Mobile Seva project conceptualized and implemented by him. Dr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. in international economic development and regional planning and an MCP from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, an M.Tech in Management and Systems from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He has published a book and several research papers in international journals and regularly writes articles on technology and policy in leading newspapers. He can be reached at kumarr@alum.mit.edu